New Delhi

Prime Minister of Bhutan Tshering Tobgay will begin a nine-day visit to India tomorrow during which he will hold talks with the top leadership here to further boost ties between the two countries besides participating in the Vibrant Gujarat Summit in Gandhinagar.

He will be accompanied by the Foreign Minister, Economic Affairs Minister and senior officials of the Royal Government of Bhutan.

Tobgay and his delegation will visit Ahmedabad to participate in the Vibrant Gujarat Summit where he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He will call also on President Pranab Mukherjee and meet several Cabinet ministers here.

The Bhutanese Prime Minister will also visit Varanasi and Bodh Gaya.

“The visit will impart further content and momentum to the close partnership between India and Bhutan,” the External Affairs Ministry said.

Modi had visited Bhutan on June 15-16 with a focus on enhancing development cooperation with the country. The upshot of the two-day visit by Modi to the Himalayan country was a decision by the two countries to scale up their ties that cover security interests and cooperation in a wide variety of fields.

President Mukherjee had also paid a visit on November 7-8.

Last month, India had sought Bhutan’s assistance to tackle militant outfit NDFB(S) that carried out the massacre of over 70 tribals following reports that the banned group has set up bases in the dense forests along the Indo-Bhutan border.

India’s assistance package to Bhutan includes Rs 4,500 crore for the country’s 11th Five-Year Plan from 2013-18 and covers areas from infrastructure and information and communication technology to health, agriculture, human resource development and tourism.

Bilateral trade amounted to Rs 6,830 crore in 2012 and education, media and tourism sectors hold good potential for enhanced cooperation in future.
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